Ryan Sullivan was named as the sixth head coach in Rhode Island women's volleyball history on July 1, 2024. He enters his second season at the helm in 2025.
In his first season, Sullivan helped the Rams more than double their win total from the previous season. Rhode Island was 9-22 overall and 4-14 in A-10 play in 2024 after going 4-26 overall and 1-17 in conference play. Freshman Havyn Rolle earned a spot on the 2024 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team.Â
Sullivan came to Rhode Island after spending the previous three seasons as a member of the University of New Hampshire staff. He was the Wildcats’ associate head coach in 2023 after two years as the program’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
During his three seasons at UNH, the Wildcats were 53-31, including a 20-12 mark in America East play. In 2023, New Hampshire finished second in the America East, closing out the regular season on a seven-match winning streak. The program reached at least the conference semifinals in all three seasons Sullivan was with the Wildcats, including a run to the championship finals in 2022. Last season, New Hampshire had an RPI of 113, the highest for the program since 2003.
Before he joined Christopher Feliciano’s staff at UNH, he spent time with three Power Five programs, coaching at Indiana, Northwestern and Mississippi State. He also was the associate head coach at Jacksonville while simultaneously serving as the Dolphins’ beach volleyball head coach.
During his time at Jacksonville, Sullivan helped the Dolphins indoor team finish second in the ASUN in 2017 with an RPI of 129. Libero Mackenzie Swan earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, and the Dolphins led the ASUN with 16.94 digs per set. The Jacksonville beach team also qualified for the ASUN championships.
Sullivan’s other coaching experience includes head coach at Louisburg College and assistant coach at Villanova University. In 2015, Villanova led the Big East in opponent hitting percentage, appeared in the Big East championship match and he helped guide the team to a NCAA tournament at-large berth. The Wildcats finished 39th in the RPI and boasted two All-East region players. Villanova had five wins against Top 75 RPI teams in 2015, which included victories against Creighton, Marquette, Xavier (2) and James Madison.
A 2012 graduate of Indiana, Sullivan was a five-year captain for the Indiana club men's volleyball team. He led the team to three national top-10 finishes, including a final four appearance in 2011 when he was also named the conference Player of the Year. In addition to his involvement with the men's club team, Sullivan was also a practice player for the women's varsity team in 2008, 2010 and 2011. The team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2011.
updated 8/15/2025
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